From: Dave Jones <davej@redhat.com>
To: Justin Piszcz <jpiszcz@hotmail.com>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Linux Kernel Microcode Question
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 16:59:52 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20040318165952.GA24328@redhat.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <Law10-F95ihL5C2Skqk00028182@hotmail.com>
On Thu, Mar 18, 2004 at 04:40:49PM +0000, Justin Piszcz wrote:
> My question is, what are the advantages vs disadvantages in updating your
> CPU's microcode?
It'll fix known problems in the microcode thats in ROM on your CPU.
> Is it worth it?
In most cases, yes. It's zero cost. You don't waste RAM, as the
microcode gets loaded into small RAM areas on the CPU that are
otherwise unused.
> Does it matter what type of Intel CPU you have?
yes. You need at least a Pentium Pro.
Also Pentium 4 needs a newer format microcode, which isn't available
publically anywhere yet afaik.
> Do some CPU's benefit more than others for microcode updates?
Some CPUs have more bugs that need fixing than others 8)
Additionally some CPUs may not have a newer microcode available
than the one that it shipped with in ROM
> Can anyone explain reasons to or not to update the CPU microcode?
In some cases, your BIOS is doing this transparently already.
I've seen instances where moving a CPU between two motherboards
has meant that microcode_ctl has done an upgrade on one, and
done nothing on the other as its already up to date.
If you're already up-to-date, theres no reason to run it.
Dave
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2004-03-18 17:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 20+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2004-03-18 16:40 Linux Kernel Microcode Question Justin Piszcz
2004-03-18 16:59 ` Dave Jones [this message]
2004-03-18 17:13 ` David Schwartz
2004-03-19 17:27 ` Tigran Aivazian
2004-03-19 23:16 ` David Schwartz
2004-03-22 11:55 ` Tigran Aivazian
2004-03-22 15:51 ` Timothy Miller
2004-03-22 15:40 ` Tigran Aivazian
2004-03-22 16:19 ` Timothy Miller
2004-03-22 19:14 ` David Schwartz
2004-03-22 20:58 ` John Bradford
2004-03-22 16:13 ` Richard B. Johnson
2004-03-22 16:51 ` Timothy Miller
2004-03-22 17:14 ` Richard B. Johnson
2004-03-18 16:59 ` Richard B. Johnson
2004-03-18 17:07 ` Robert Love
2004-03-19 0:16 ` Bill Davidsen
2004-03-19 12:56 ` Richard B. Johnson
2004-03-18 22:20 ` Tigran Aivazian
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
2004-03-18 17:19 Nakajima, Jun
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